All About the Bomb

By

Heidi Waleson

Updated Oct. 4, 2005 12:01 a.m. ET

San Francisco

The operas of John Adams are never conventionally narrative; rather, they explore the mythic properties of critical historical moments. "Doctor Atomic," which had its world premiere Saturday at the San Francisco Opera, deals with the creation of the nuclear bomb, certainly one of the most charged and resonant events of the 20th century. But the opera sank under the weight of its historical and literary...